MANHATTAN, Kan. – Kansas State head coach Jerome Tang continued to solidify his front court for the 2024-25 season with the signing of All-Southern Conference selection Achor Achor (Melbourne, Australia/Greenforest McCalep Academy/Chipola College/Samford) to a Financial Aid Agreement on Monday (May 20).
A 6-foot-9, 227-pound wing, Achor arrives at K-State after spending the last 2 seasons (2022-24) at Samford in Birmingham, Ala., where he was apart of 50 wins, 2 regular-season Southern Conference championships (2023, 2024) and the school’s first NCAA Tournament appearance in 24 seasons in 2023-24. He also played 2 seasons (2020-22) at NJCAA powerhouse Chipola College in Marianna, Fla., leading the Indians to 59 wins and back-to-back Final Four appearances (2021, 2022) at the NJCAA Division I Championship in Hutchinson, Kan.
Achor will have one season of eligibility remaining due to the NCAA granting student-athletes who played during the 2020-21 athletic season an extra season of eligibility due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It’s always a great day to be a Wildcat especially when you can welcome someone like Achor and his family to K-State,” said head coach Jerome Tang. “I love his resiliency. He has overcome a lot personally as well as on the court. He has a terrific smile, and he raises the energy level in any room or gym he walks in. On top of that, he is a terrific basketball player, as his mobility and versatility make him a mismatch nightmare. He’s been part of a winning culture at Samford, along with his NCAA Tournament experience, and will add great value to our locker room. I know our fans will enjoy getting to know him. The passion he plays with is infectious.”
Achor has scored nearly 1,000 career points in 105 career games at Chipola College (2020-22) and Samford (2022-24) with 50 starts in his playing career, connecting on 56.9 percent (350-of-615) shooting from the field with 487 rebounds (4.6 rpg.), 103 blocks (1.0 bpg.), 78 assists (0.7 apg.) and 72 steals (0.7 spg.) in 1,589 minutes played (15.1 mpg.). He has totaled 14 20-point games and one 30-point game in his career, along with 5 double-doubles. He scored a career-high 35 points in the Bulldogs’ 75-71 win at Western Carolina on Jan. 16, 2024, connecting on 12-of-22 field goal attempts, including 5-of-9 from 3-point range.
Achor has been part of high-level winning throughout his college career, as his teams have posted a cumulative 109-28 (.796) record, including 48-12 (.800) mark in conference play, with 5 conference championships (2 SoCon regular-season titles and 1 tournament title), 2 NJCAA Championship appearances, which included consecutive Final Four trips, 2 Florida State championships and one NCAA Tournament appearance.
Most recently, Achor helped Samford to its best 2-year span (50-17) in school history, which included back-to-back Southern Conference regular-season titles, the 2024 Southern Conference Tournament championship and the first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2000 under head coach Bucky McMillan. The 29 wins in 2023-24 were the most in school history and the second-most by a Division I school behind James Madison (32).
In his 2 seasons at Samford, Achor averaged 11.3 points on 58.4 percent (262-of-449) shooting, including 41.9 percent (31-of-74) from 3-point range, and 69.6 percent (158-of-227) from the free throw line to go with 4.9 rebounds, 1.1 assists, 1.3 blocks and 0.6 steals in 18.7 minutes per game. He played in 63 of a possible 67 games with 34 starts, while scoring in double figures 31 times.
Achor had his best season to date as a collegian in 2023-24, upping his scoring average by 10 points per game (6.1 to 16.1 ppg.) en route to leading the Bulldogs in 10 categories, including in both scoring and rebounding, and earning First Team All-Southern Conference honors. He had 12 games of 20 or more points, including a career-best 35 in the win at Western Carolina on Jan. 16. He also added 3 double-doubles, including a 28-point, 14-rebound effort in a semifinal win over Furman on March 10 at the Southern Conference Championship.
Achor was playing his best at the end of the season, posting 20 or more points in 4 of the last 5 games capped by his 23-point, 8-rebound performance in helping the 14-seeded Bulldogs push 4-seed Kansas to the brink in a 93-89 loss in the NCAA Tournament First Round. He was named the Most Outstanding Player of the Southern Conference Championship after averaging 21.7 points on 65.3 percent (23-of-35) shooting with 9 rebounding in 3 tournament games. Following his double-double over Furman in the semifinals, he had a game-high 25 points in the 76-69 win over East Tennessee State in the championship game to go with a team-high 9 rebounds, 4 blocks and 2 steals.
For the season, Achor averaged 16.1 points on 58.6 percent (191-of-326) shooting, including 43.5 percent (27-of-62) from 3-point range, and 71.2 percent (121-of-170) from the free throw line to go with 6.1 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 1.8 blocks and 0.8 steals in 22.6 minutes per game. He led the team in scoring, field goals made and attempted, free throws made and attempted, all 4 rebounding categories (average, offensive (72), defensive (130) and total (202) and blocks (59). He also ranked among the top-20 in 5 categories in the Southern Conference, including third in field goal percentage and blocks, seventh in scoring, 12th in rebounding and 20th in free throw percentage.
As a junior, Achor saw action in 30 games with 1 start helping the Bulldogs a 21-11 overall record, including a tie for the Southern Conference regular-season title at 15-3. He scored in double figures in 5 games, including a season-high 18 points at Alabama A&M on Nov. 17, 2022, while earning his first double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds at South Carolina State on Dec. 17, 2023. He averaged 6.1 points on 57.7 percent (71-of-123) shooting with 3.5 rebounds, 0.6 assists, 0.8 blocks and 0.4 steals in 14.4 minutes per game.
Achor started his college career at NJCAA powerhouse Chipola College, leading the Indians to a 59-11 (.843) record to go with consecutive NJCAA Final Four appearances, FCSAA state titles and Panhandle Conference championships while playing alongside former Wildcat Nae’Qwan Tomlin under head coach Donnie Tyndall.
As a junior, Achor averaged 8.4 points on 54.5 percent (55-of-101) shooting with 5.5 rebounds per game en route to earning Second Team All-Panhandle Conference honors for an Indian squad that posted a 30-6 record. He scored 20 or more points in 2 of the last 3 games, including a 22-point, 16-rebound effort against Hutchinson Community College in the first round of the NJCAA Championship.
A native of Melborne, Australia, Achor played his high school basketball at Greenforest McCalep Academy in Decatur, Ga., which is the high school alma mater of former Wildcat Abayomi [Baybe] Iyiola.
Achor is the eighth player to sign with the Wildcats for the 2024-25 season, including the sixth Division I transfer. He joins Dug McDaniel (Washington, D.C./St. Paul VI Catholic VI/Michigan), Baye Fall (Dakar, Senegal/ Accelerated Prep [Colo.]/Arkansas), Brendan Hausen (Amarillo, Texas/Amarillo/Villanova), Chimobi (Mobi) Ikegwuruka (Galway, Ireland/Ellsworth [Iowa] Community College), Christian (C.J.) Jones (East St. Louis, Ill./East St. Louis/UIC) and Max Jones (Clearwater, Fla./Clearwater/University of Tampa/Cal State Fullerton).
The seven transfers join top-50 high school prospect David Castillo (Bartlesville, Okla./Sunrise Christian Academy [Kan.]), who signed during the early signing period on Nov. 8.
K-State finished the 2023-24 season with a 19-15 record, including a tie for ninth in the Big 12 with an 8-10 mark, and advanced to the NIT. Among the Wildcats’ 19 victories were 4 over Top 25 teams, including 3 in the Top 10. The team has won 45 games in head coach Jerome Tang’s tenure, including consecutive postseason appearances.
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